HGH testing: NFL asks Congress to pressure players union

WASHINGTON (AP) — The NFL is looking to add a little political muscle to its efforts to get human growth hormone testing started this season.

The league is recruiting Republican House members who are physicians to sign a letter pressuring the players union, which has resisted implementing a provision in the latest collective bargaining agreement to begin HGH testing.

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In an email obtained Friday by The Associated Press, an NFL lobbyist asks congressional staffers to urge their bosses to sign a letter by two House Republicans urging the NFL and NFL Players Association to begin testing this season.

Brian Gaston of the Glover Park Group tells the staffers he'd like many of the 21 members of the "GOP Doc Caucus" to sign.

"Given our unique perspective as doctors-turned-lawmakers, we believe that preventing HGH's illegal possession and use — particularly among young people — is an important public health policy goal," reads the letter, which has not yet been released publicly.

"Those who take HGH without a prescription are breaking the law and risking numerous negative side-effects, including cancer, diabetes, hypertension, harm to reproductive health, thyroid problems and abnormal growth of bone and connective tissue," the congressmen add.

The latest collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and union includes a provision to begin testing players for HGH — contingent on the union agreeing to the testing methods. The NFL Players Association has asked for more scientific data to prove the most popular test is reliable.

"The union has raised concerns about the validity of the tests — though scientists uniformly agree that HGH testing is credible, forensically defensible, safe and accurate," Gaston wrote in the email soliciting congressional signatures for the letter.

At least one member of the doctors' caucus, presidential candidate and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, didn't agree with the letter.

"Congressman Paul did not sign on to this letter because the NFL is a private organization and should set their own standards without interference from the U.S. Congress," said his congressional spokeswoman, Rachel Mills. "Congress has many other pressing issues to deal with."